Edinburgh man drove at 30mph on A90 after taking cannabis

A driver crawled along the outside lane of a busy dual carriageway at just 30mph while under the influence of cannabis.

Alan Lewthwaite was seen driving erratically on the A90 near Kinfauns by people who had earlier stopped to help him change a tyre.

Depute fiscal Tina Dickie said the couple smelled the pungent drug on the IT consultant and called the police.

At Perth Sheriff Court on Monday the 30-year-old was banned from the road, but escaped a harsher sentence due to health problems he was suffering at the time of the incident.

Solicitor John Adams, defending, said Lewthwaite was given the drug by a friend after he became “unwell” on a trip to Dundee. He was later diagnosed with a pulmonary embolism, a blockage in the blood vessels of the lungs.

Lewthwaite admitted driving while unfit through drink or drugs on October 18 last year. He also admitted biting a police sergeant while at Perth police station on the same date.

Sheriff Eric Brown fined Lewthwaite, of Lochend Park View, Edinburgh, £430 and handed him a 12-month driving ban, the minimum allowed by law.